On June 1, 1927, the Montauk Manor opened with a splash – “a Carl Fisher masterpiece,” the East Hampton Star proclaimed on its front page, referring to the man who hoped to transform Montauk into a Miami Beach of the North. A reporter marveled that the luxurious, $1.5 million, nearly 200-room resort had been completed… Read more »
Traffic this weekend won’t be so tranquil, so here’s a look at Montauk’s parkway in the 1930s. We’re not sure if this is the stretch running through Hither Hills or the one at Montauk Point, but in either case we can thank Robert Moses, the former state park commission president, for the view. When Moses… Read more »
When this blimp lifted off from Montauk on May 14, 1919, some hoped it would set a record by making a trip across the Atlantic to Ireland, eight years before Charles Lindbergh’s flight to Paris. During World War I the Navy operated a 33-acre air base near what is today’s downtown. Open fields provided a… Read more »
Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official holiday in 1914, “as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” But seeds had already been sown – even by ancient Greeks and Romans, who honored the mother goddesses with festivals. In the 19th century, Anna Reeves Jarvis helped organize “Mother’s… Read more »
In the spring of 1981, Rick Whalen was a couple of years out of college, “knocking around East Hampton trying to find work.” Somehow he hooked up with Stuart Vorpahl for a few months fishing pound traps in Napeague Harbor, and he recalls a good run of weakfish. In this photo Rick is flinging a… Read more »
It’s hard to believe that 100 years have passed since this rather somber photograph was taken at Alma Baker’s Luncheonette. The restaurant catered to passengers who arrived in Montauk’s old fishing village on Fishermen’s Special trains, day trippers who were eager to hop on a boat and hook what was sure to be a plentiful… Read more »
This painting has turned the head of many a visitor since the newly expanded Montauk Library opened on February 18. It’s of the original Lazybones owned by Mike and Kathy Vegessi, with Captain Mike at the wheel and the U.S. Coast Guard station in the background. Mike and Kathy Vegessi have the same painting at… Read more »
Given the price of land today, a waterfront building is more likely to be replaced with something grander than moved from one spot to another. Back in the day, though, homes and even restaurants (like Trail’s End) in the old fishing village on Fort Pond Bay were moved to other places like Shepherd’s Neck and… Read more »
Richard T. Gilmartin and Frank Tuma Sr. certainly enjoyed surfcasting, as they were doing on this day in the early 1940s on the ocean west of Montauk Point. Tuma in particular was a pioneer of the sport, developing “a snap cast that was extremely efficient at catching striped bass,” according to the Images of America: Montauk book… Read more »
Ladies Auxiliary Christmas Dinner, circa 1974 Six color photographs Montauk Library Archives Can you identify these members of the Ladies Auxiliary at their Christmas dinner at the Blue Marlin in, we think, 1974? Twenty-eight women founded the Montauk Fire Department’s Ladies Auxiliary in 1949, mainly to provide food and water to volunteer firemen – mostly… Read more »